History of The Peloponnesian War - Book V   

consists of officers under officers, and the care of what is to be
done falls upon many.
In this battle the left wing was composed of the Sciritae, who in
a Lacedaemonian army have always that post to themselves alone; next
to these were the soldiers of Brasidas from Thrace, and the Neodamodes
with them; then came the Lacedaemonians themselves, company after
company, with the Arcadians of Heraea at their side. After these
were the Maenalians, and on the right wing the Tegeans with a few of
the Lacedaemonians at the extremity; their cavalry being posted upon
the two wings. Such was the Lacedaemonian formation. That of their
opponents was as follows: On the right were the Mantineans, the action
taking place in their country; next to them the allies from Arcadia;
after whom came the thousand picked men of the Argives, to whom the
state had given a long course of military training at the public
expense; next to them the rest of the Argives, and after them their
allies, the Cleonaeans and Orneans, and lastly the Athenians on the
extreme left, and lastly the Athenians on the extreme left, and
their own cavalry with them.
Such were the order and the forces of the two combatants. The
Lacedaemonian army looked the largest; though as to putting down the
numbers of either host, or of the contingents composing it, I could
not do so with any accuracy. Owing to the secrecy of their
government the number of the Lacedaemonians was not known, and men are
so apt to brag about the forces of their country that the estimate
of their opponents was not trusted. The following calculation,
however, makes it possible to estimate the numbers of the
Lacedaemonians present upon this occasion. There were seven
companies in the field without counting the Sciritae, who numbered six
hundred men: in each company there were four Pentecostyes, and in
the Pentecosty four Enomoties. The first rank of the Enomoty was
composed of four soldiers: as to the depth, although they had not been
all drawn up alike, but as each captain chose, they were generally
ranged eight deep; the first rank along the whole line, exclusive of
the Sciritae, consisted of four hundred and forty-eight men.
The armies being now on the eve of engaging, each contingent
received some words of encouragement from its own commander. The
Mantineans were, reminded that they were going to fight for their
country and to avoid returning to the experience of servitude after
having tasted that of empire; the Argives, that they would contend for
their ancient supremacy, to regain their once equal share of
Peloponnese of which they had been so long deprived, and to punish
an enemy and a neighbour for a thousand wrongs; the Athenians, of
the glory of gaining the honours of the day with so many and brave
allies in arms, and that a victory over the Lacedaemonians in
Peloponnese would cement and extend their empire, and would besides
preserve Attica from all invasions in future. These were the
incitements addressed to the Argives and their allies. The
Lacedaemonians meanwhile, man to man, and with their war-songs in
the ranks, exhorted each brave comrade to remember what he had
learnt before; well aware that the long training of action was of more
saving virtue than any brief verbal exhortation, though never so
well delivered.
After this they joined battle, the Argives and their allies
advancing with haste and fury, the Lacedaemonians slowly and to the
music of many flute-players- a standing institution in their army,
that has nothing to do with religion, but is meant to make them
advance evenly, stepping in time, without break their order, as
large armies are apt to do in the moment of engaging.
Just before the battle joined, King Agis resolved upon the following
manoeuvre. All armies are alike in this: on going into action they get
forced out rather on their right wing, and one and the other overlap
with this adversary's left; because fear makes each man do his best to
shelter his unarmed side with the shield of the man next him on the
right, thinking that the closer the shields are locked together the